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Daniel Ash

 
Artist:

Daniel Ash

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  • Born: July 31, 1957, Northampton, England
  • Active: '90s
  • Genres: Rock
  • Instrument: Guitar
  • Representative Albums: "Come Alive", "Foolish Thing Desire"
  • Representative Songs: "Burning Man", "Get Out of Control", "Spooky"

Biography

As a founding member of the groundbreaking Bauhaus, Tones on Tail, and Love and Rockets, guitarist, singer, and songwriter Daniel Ash has distinguished himself in the world of contemporary music. Daniel Ash was born in Northampton, England, on July 31, 1957. As a child, he heard the Dave Clark Five's "Bits and Pieces" and was blown away by the massive booming echo of the song, but it wasn't the first single he purchased -- "The first record I bought was Dave & Ansel Collins' 'Double Barrel'," he recalls. Driven by a love of rock & roll, Ash began playing in cover bands: "The first gig I ever played was in the Glasgow Rangers Workman's Club." That show ended in a fracas. Ash had become friends with Peter Murphy in his teenage years: "We were two oddballs in the class who didn't fit in." Ash went to art school and Murphy to work in a printing factory. They met up five years later and Ash suggested forming a band.

Rigging up a makeshift rehearsal space, Ash played an echo 12-bar blues, while Murphy sang a series of newspaper articles. "After 15 seconds," Ash says , "I knew we'd have some sort of success. Four weeks after, we formed Bauhaus, and we recorded 'Bela Lugosi's Dead'." That song , issued in 1979, became the cornerstone of the goth rock movement. After nearly five years of trailblazing recording and performing, Bauhaus broke up and Ash put together Tones on Tail with Bauhaus drummer Kevin Haskins. That group mutated into the highly influential Love and Rockets in 1985, when Bauhaus bassist David J came on board.

While Daniel Ash's first solo album, Coming Down, was a moody, late-night rumination written in the aftermath of divorce, Foolish Thing Desire, his second, is a celebration of life's perils and pleasures and was recorded at Woodbine Street Studios with longtime collaborator John A. Rivers. It's essentially positive, presenting a rush of passionate and powerful rock riffs. ~ All Music Guide, All Music Guide
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Daniel Ash

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Daniel Ash

Ash at the 2008 Lollapalooza festival.
Background information
Birth name Daniel Ash
Born 31 July 1957 (1957-07-31) (age 52) in Northampton, England
Genres Alternative rock, gothic rock, post-punk, electronic
Instruments Vocals, guitar, saxophone
Years active 1979–present
Labels Columbia Records
Beggars Banquet Records
Psychobaby Records
Associated acts Bauhaus, Love and Rockets, Tones on Tail

Daniel Ash (born 31 July 1957, in Northampton, England) is a textural guitarist for Bauhaus, Tones on Tail, Love and Rockets, and solo projects.

Contents

Life and work

After going to concerts in his teenage years, he made a decision to be on a stage in some way. He started playing guitar around the age of 15, but confessed to have been very lazy and only learned three chords and nothing more for about three years. Ash began playing in cover bands, often together with future band mates David J and Kevin Haskins whom he knew since kindergarten. His first gig was in the Glasgow Rangers Workman's Club.[citation needed]

Daniel Ash while in Love and Rockets

Ash had become friends with Peter Murphy in his teenage years. Ash went to art school and Murphy to work in a printing factory. They met up five years later and Ash suggested forming a band. Rigging up a makeshift rehearsal space, Ash played an Echo 12 - bar blues, while Murphy sang a series of newspaper articles. Four weeks after, they formed Bauhaus, and recorded "Bela Lugosi's Dead".

That song, released in 1979, became one of the most influential songs in gothic rock music even though they saw themselves as a "dark glam" band and have always distanced themselves from the gothic label. From early on, he was intent on sounding original, and often tried to "make the guitar not sound like a guitar". He worked to develop a guitar style that included other-worldly and atmospheric sounds by the use of an EBow. He typically has used a Telecaster[1] guitar, HH Electronics amplifiers and Marshall 4x12 cabinets for his stage gear. Later in his career, he relied heavily on the Fernandes Sustainer system to achieve similar sounds to the EBow.

After nearly five years of recording and performing, Bauhaus broke up and Ash put together Tones on Tail with Bauhaus drummer Kevin Haskins. As Ash described them: "We were a motley crew of individuals who essentially wanted to sound like a band from Venus or Mars!" In 1984, Tones on Tail was disbanded, and Ash founded Love and Rockets in 1985 with Kevin Haskins and David J, also of Bauhaus. In an interview in June 2009, Ash emphatically stated that he had no further plans to play with Love and Rockets.[1]

Ash has stated that guitar solos do not interest him much since they rely on a musician's ego. He cares much more for the craft of songwriting and the overall production of a song rather than a focus on guitar or any other single instrument.[2] During the last ten years, he has been experimenting more with electronic music, both with Love & Rockets and solo, limiting the use of guitar as an extra element to the songs. Since the last reformation of Bauhaus however, he has been returning to a more guitar based rock sound.

In 2008, Bauhaus released "Go Away White" their first studio album in 25 years and a reunited Love and Rockets played at Coachella Music and Arts Festival.

In June 2009 he released a cover of the David Essex song "Rock On" featuring singer Zak Ambrose (of the band Ambrose) on vocals.[1] Recorded at the Swing House rehearsal and recording complex in Hollywood, the track is on the Swing House Sessions Vol 1 E.P..

His 4th solo album is due for release in 2010.

Ash is also known as a lifelong motorcycle enthusiast having ridden and customized bikes since he was a teenager and he has expressed his zeal on the Love and Rockets "Motorcycle" E.P.

Discography

Studio albums

Year Album details
1991 Coming Down
1992 Foolish Thing Desire
2002 Daniel Ash
  • Label: Psychobaby Records
2005 Come Alive
  • Label: Psychobaby Records

Singles, EPs and promos

Year Album details
1991 "This Love"
1991 "Walk This Way"
1992 "Get Out of Control"
199? "Here She Comes"
  • Label:
2000 Daniel Ash EP
  • Label: Self Released
2000 "Burning Man"
  • Label: Plastik Records
2001 "Spooky"
  • Label: Psychobaby Records
2002 Burning Man x6 + 1
  • Label: Psychobaby Records
2009 Rock On (Dirty Queen)
  • Label: Arsenal Records

Other

See also


References

External links


 
 
Learn More
Love & Rockets: Sorted - The Best of Love and Rockets (Music Film)
John A. Rivers (Rock Artist, '70s-2000s)
Malediction (1999 Album by Botanica)

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Artist. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
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